Deliveries
by saketini
Summary: Alfred has a hopeless crush on his favorite customer.


Alfred was trying to pretend he hadn't noticed he had developed a cough overnight as he made his way into the elevator and pressed the round button labeled _12._ He turned up his headphones to drown out the cheesy music. Clearing his throat between pauses at floors seven and ten, he mentally wrote it off as allergies or dust. The elevator dinged when it arrived at his destination. Alfred tugged out his headphones as he exited the elevator and smiled brightly at the receptionist.

"Morning, Artie!"

He laughed over the irritated "it's _Arthur_" that he received in reply as he rolled his cart up to the desk. His gray signature tablet was slid across it into Arthur's waiting hands.

"I don't have many packages for you guys today. Slow business week?"

"I suppose."

The receptionist frowned thoughtfully as he scrolled through the inventory list before adding his signature to the dotted line. He had tugged a dark green sweater over his shirt and tie before Alfred had arrived and his hair still looked slightly tousled from the movement. The color did nice things for his green eyes.

Alfred worked for a large delivery company and made stops at the office Arthur worked for almost daily. He enjoyed his job. It offered him a decent schedule that allowed him to take classes in the afternoon and it paid well enough for him to make rent. Their regular customers had become familiar faces which he considered an extra perk, always appreciating an opportunity to talk.

He had taken to delivering packages at the top floor of the building first before working his way back down to the ground level. When he had admitted this to his brother after a few too many beers one night, Matthew had seen right through him. He had been teased for his crush on the suave older foreigner for weeks.

Alfred dropped the envelopes he was holding onto the desk and quickly turned his head to cough into his sleeve. He readied an apology, expecting to be scolded for nearly coughing on the mail, but Arthur only deepened his frown.

"Not feeling well?" Arthur asked.

"Just allergies, probably."

"In the middle of Winter?"

The other man rose an eyebrow in disbelief and Alfred feigned another cough to hide his blush in his shirt.

"Well," he mumbled. "Who knows. I was cleaning out the basement with my brother last night. We were looking for some old exercise equipment. Probably kicked up some dust."

Arthur's eyes skittered from Alfred's face to his arms. Not noticing the movement, Alfred continued his story about the lost barbells and weights before interrupting himself with another cough. Arthur patted the back of his hand gently.

"I have tea in the break room. I could get you some?"

"Nah, I'll be fine, thanks! Did you have any outgoing mail today?"

Alfred scanned the top of the desk, looking for the usual stack of priority mail envelopes and business cards. He looked up at Arthur's face when he didn't see any.

"Some of our paper files," Arthur said. "They're going into storage."

He nodded his head at the stacks of boxes in the corner behind him. The_ heavy_ looking stacks of boxes behind him.

"We were going to stagger the shipments but there was an issue with the printers…"

"No problem!" Alfred chirped.

"Are you sure? I can get someone to help, you look a little flushed."

Alfred waved off Arthur's hand before it could touch his forehead to check his temperature, knowing the contact would only worsen his appearance. After a few more reassurances that he really was _fine, just dandy, the picture of health over here!_ Arthur rolled back his chair with a huff to let him into the corner.

It was slightly cramped, and a suddenly very self-conscious Alfred felt the need to apologize again as he started stacking boxes.

"Sorry, didn't mean to creep in your personal space."

"Ah," and even though Arthur kept his eyes directed at the computer screen, Alfred could have sworn he saw a smile. "No problem."

_No no no, he's just being friendly. There's no way he'd be interested in some college kid that delivers boxes for a living. _

He'd gotten to know Arthur fairly well over the past few months they had worked together. The man had moved from Birmingham a few years prior for a law school opportunity. After scolding Alfred for thinking he was from Birmingham, Alabama and not Birmingham, England for several weeks without asking, they had moved to a comfortable level of friendly banter. Arthur had even recently shown Alfred pictures of his newly adopted spaniel named Biscuit.

In light of his hopeless crush, Alfred considered that a victory.

Finished stacking, Alfred gave the man a small salute as he rolled his cart back into the elevator. He continued his deliveries throughout the building, trying to ignore his worsening cough. His customers made various comments throughout the day. Elizabeta even offered him cough drops and tissues in the lobby. While their concern was flattering, it was also oddly embarrassing and Alfred felt his face getting steadily brighter. After he was done and loading up his truck, he complained to the security guard by the loading dock. Gilbert was no better than the others, tossing him a bottle of water along with a tease that he should have asked _that stuffy boyfriend of yours on floor twelve to play doctor_. Alfred's stutter earned more cackles from Gilbert who dodged the incoming gloves and packing labels tossed at his head.

They had all been correct though. The sunny Thursday that followed was spent in bed. Alfred's large fluffy cat flopped on his chest while he went through several boxes of tissues. After a whine to Matthew that he wanted soup for dinner and a text to his coworker to cover his shift, he promptly slept the day away.

At his next shift, he ran into Ivan after clocking in for the morning. Passing the taller man a cup of coffee by way of thanks for the day before, he received one of his odd grins in return.

"Your Englishman was worried about you," Ivan said.

"Hmm?"

"I do not know his name. At the Atlantic Building, floor twelve."

"Yeah! Artie?"

Ivan hummed and nodded sipping at his coffee. They continued making small talk until they received their assignments and it was time to leave. After the drive and a ride up the elevator he discovered, true to Ivan's word, Arthur had been worried about him.

"Artie!" he greeted brightly. "What do you have for me today?"

Instead of the usual retort, Arthur pressed a warm thermos into his hands in exchange for the signature tablet.

"What's this?"

"Tea," Arthur mumbled gruffly. "Your friend said you were out sick yesterday."

Alfred wrinkled his nose slightly at Ivan being referred to as his friend before inspecting the thermos. It was tacky. And patriotic. And very much his style.

"Dude, this is fun. Where'd you get it?"

"An odd Christmas present I received."

Arthur fussed with his papers, looking distracted as he casually mentioned that the stars really did glow in the dark.

"I've never really used it. You can keep it."

"Awesome! Favorite customer! Don't tell the guys on the other floors."

Alfred winked conspiratorially in Arthur's direction before noticing the other man's slight flush.

"Hey, if you're getting sick you should take time off too, okay?"

Arthur only waved him off with frown as he sorted through the files. Unfortunately for him, Alfred also noticed something else.

"By the way, is green your favorite color?"

This earned him a strange look, Arthur squinting at him with furrowed brows.

"I hadn't really thought of it," he said.

"Oh! You've been wearing a lot of green lately. Figured it was intentional, it looks nice with your eyes…um."

He trailed off and pretended to be interested in his label maker, not noticing that Arthur was doing the same with his keyboard.

"Quite." Arthur tugged his sweater sleeves past his wrists absentmindedly. "You wear a lot of brown."

Alfred thought his relieved laugh was a little too loud and tried to smother it but only managed a snort. A peek out of the corner of his eye confirmed Arthur was smiling.

"I don't really have much of a choice, you know. You never really see me outside of work."

"That's true," Arthur hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe sometime I could?"

"See me outside of work?"

"Yes."

Arthur was still smiling and was resting his chin on his palm as he looked up at Alfred expectantly.

_Like by coincidence? We haven't really seen each other before but it's definitely possible._

"Yeah, probably! I live in town so we'll probably run into each other sometime!"

Arthur's expression immediately returned to his trademark frown and he picked at his sleeves once more. Feeling like he had missed something important but not comfortable with the options his mind was giving him, Alfred nodded awkwardly and said his goodbyes with a final thank you for the present.

Safe in the privacy of the elevator, Alfred cheerfully texted his brother a picture of the mug.

_"Cute. When's your date?" _Matthew quickly replied.

It was Alfred's turn to blush again, making his realization that he had forgotten his tablet on the twelfth floor all the more inconvenient. With an apology to the other receptionist, he rolled his cart onto the next floor before running back up the stairs. Upon rushing through the fire door, he saw Arthur hunched over his desk, texting furiously.

"Hey! I forgot my—"

The phone fell to the floor with an uncomfortable cracking noise.

"_Shit!_ I'm so sorry!"

Alfred ran over to grab it, relieved to find no visible damage before it was snatched out of his hand. Something on the screen, however, had caught his eye.

"Wait, was that my name?"

It had been tacked on along with a sentence that also included the word "date." Arthur held out the tablet and stylus, bluntly ignoring the question.

"…you forgot this."

Alfred blinked at the device as he rewound their previous conversation in his head. The answer to what he had missed hit him with a sudden fluttering feeling in his chest.

"Wait, you really did want a date?"

He smiled brightly in hopeful question at the other man. The reaction wasn't quite what he had wanted to receive. Arthur only huffed and frowned down at his phone and the happy flutters turned to a painful lead balloon that thudded into his gut.

"Oh, never mind. Ha ha… that would be awkward."

Alfred began to turn away before the loud bang of Arthur's chair hitting the floor distracted him. A pair of hands grabbed at his collar and he was yanked across the desk for a kiss. He was pretty sure he let out a squeak in surprise but it was quickly muffled by Arthur's lips. The table was digging uncomfortably into his hip and, not one to ignore a opportunity, Alfred scooted up and onto the top to lean in closer. The hands at his collar curled back to tug through his hair and he sighed happily into the kiss. A gentle bite to his lower lip and he opened his mouth to allow Arthur to slide his tongue against his own.

Arthur pulled back only to tilt his head and whisper into his ear.

"You're hopeless. Yes, I really did want a date."

A soft kiss was placed on his cheek as Alfred tried to form a response. He didn't protest when Arthur slipped his hand into his pocket, taking his phone to add his number to the contact list before tucking it back inside.

"Call me later," he instructed. "You'll get in trouble if you don't finish your deliveries on time, right?"

"Um, yeah!"

He bit his tongue to hold in a giggle as he shifted back off the desk and onto the floor. Not quite sure how to say goodbye, he waved awkwardly only to be delighted when Arthur returned the silly gesture. Back in the elevator, Alfred wasted no time texting his brother that he really did have a date and it really was for tonight.


End file.
